Weishaupt lost his position at the University of Ingolstadt and fled Bavaria. Writings that were intercepted in 1784 were interpreted as seditious, and the Society was banned by the government of Karl Theodor, Elector of Bavaria, in 1784. Weishaupt's radical rationalism and vocabulary were not likely to succeed. Enlightenment takes place here, if it takes place at all, precisely under the direction of another, namely under that of the "Superiors". was specifically prevented by the Order of the Illuminati's rules and regulations.
'The independence of thought and judgement required by Kant.
Wolfgang Riedel has commented that this approach to illumination or enlightenment constituted a degradation and twisting of the Kantian principle of Enlightenment. Ĭontrary to Immanuel Kant's famous dictum that Enlightenment (and Weishaupt's Order was in some respects an expression of the Enlightenment Movement) was the passage by man out of his 'self-imposed immaturity' through daring to 'make use of his own reason, without the guidance of another,' Weishaupt's Order of Illuminati prescribed in great detail everything which the members had obediently to read and think, so that Dr. Presenting their own system as pure masonry, Weishaupt and Adolph Freiherr Knigge, who organised his ritual structure, greatly expanded the secret organisation. He used Freemasonry to recruit for his own quasi-masonic society, with the goal of "perfecting human nature" through re-education to achieve a communal state with nature, freed of government and organized religion.
His project of "illumination, enlightening the understanding by the sun of reason, which will dispel the clouds of superstition and of prejudice" was an unwelcome reform. Weishaupt was initiated into the Masonic lodge "Theodor zum guten Rath", at Munich in 1777. Each isolated cell of initiates reported to a superior, whom they did not know: a party structure that was effectively adopted by some later groups. The actual character of the society was an elaborate network of spies and counter-spies. The Illuminati was formed with the vision of liberating humans from religious bondage and undermining corrupted governments. Even encyclopedia references vary on the goal of the order, such as Catholic Encyclopedia (1910) saying the Order was not egalitarian or democratic internally, but sought to promote the doctrines of equality and freedom throughout society while others such as Collier's have said the aim was to combat religion and foster rationalism in its place. Indeed, the word was adapted from a Latin root, Iluminatus, which directly translates to "enlightened." He also adopted the name of "Brother Spartacus" within the order. Initially Illumination was designated for a group of outstanding and enlightened individuals in the society. On Johann Adam Weishaupt founded the "Illuminati" in the Electorate of Bavaria. I wished to do what the heads of the ecclesiastical and secular authorities ought to have done by virtue of their offices. Foundation of the Illuminati Īt a time, however, when there was no end of making game of and abusing secret societies, I planned to make use of this human foible for a real and worthy goal, for the benefit of people. Both Feder and Weishaupt would later become opponents of Kantian idealism. In 1775 Weishaupt was introduced to the empirical philosophy of Johann Georg Heinrich Feder of the University of Göttingen. The following year he married Afra Sausenhofer of Eichstätt.Īfter Pope Clement XIV's suppression of the Society of Jesus in 1773, Weishaupt became a professor of canon law, a position that was held exclusively by the Jesuits until that time. He later enrolled at the University of Ingolstadt and graduated in 1768 at age 20 with a doctorate of law. Weishaupt began his formal education at age seven at a Jesuit school.
Ickstatt was a proponent of the philosophy of Christian Wolff and of the Enlightenment, and he influenced the young Weishaupt with his rationalism. After his father's death he came under the tutelage of his godfather Johann Adam Freiherr von Ickstatt who, like his father, was a professor of law at the University of Ingolstadt. Weishaupt's father Johann Georg Weishaupt (1717–1753) died when Adam was five years old. 5.3 Works by Adam Weishaupt in English translationĪdam Weishaupt was born on 6 February 1748 in Ingolstadt in the Electorate of Bavaria.4 Assessment of character and intentions.
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